Britannia Radio

    *TAS Trustee Asness Denies Obama the Sanction of the
Victim<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102577628099&s=14360&e=0010u2ysWkumoDx-VF3MCsSV7Ru6xEqo5oK4ugnxno4kLdliOatlq-dA5IUkmSAt4tZiD30qEK1vJ_KdhZC0SukACSHWso4tT2mQgWLy7tDtmlD6SPf6NSFCTO70Q-KmpUOO-bfLr-NROjXmV9HhQd8-etZWq1W26Nt>
*      May 11, 2009 -- Clifford Asness recently posted on his website
*Stumbling
on Truth<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102577628099&s=14360&e=0010u2ysWkumoDJVCMB5dwe9p1S8etJsCoKSI1bHE32-pcfsPCBWAlT5zALE1ssi2wZNGFjtMkkfFk873ThSmyg72sOKW5PoQAAo0Xu3Puc1N35cnNS4S6oed8Ra9M3dG9WcL0SJenKZXxZuq9RzNIjVaWV9XqivlUZxwp6Y9jXzCth9nyDLUB2NTKwd4k5YDKE>
* an open letter, "Unafraid in
Greenwich<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102577628099&s=14360&e=0010u2ysWkumoDJVCMB5dwe9p1S8etJsCoKSI1bHE32-pcfsPCBWAlT5zALE1ssi2wZNGFjtMkkfFk873ThSmyg72sOKW5PoQAAo0Xu3Puc1N35cnNS4S6oed8Ra9M3dG9WcL0SJenKZXxZuq9RzNIjVaWV9XqivlUZxwp6Y9jXzCth9nyDLUB2NTKwd4k5YDKE>,"
in which he attacks the Obama Administration for smashing the basic legal
rules that protect creditors and allow for orderly and just bankruptcy
proceedings.

In the deals the Administration has brokered for the Chrysler bankruptcy,
the creditors get short shrift so that a favorite Democratic donor group,
the UAW, can seize control of the company. The deal has been made possible
by bullying tactics that use the power of government coercion as the
ultimate threat to bring the owners of Chrysler's debt to the table. "When
hedge funds, pension funds, mutual funds, and individuals, including very
sweet grandmothers, lend their money they expect to get it back.... [But]
without [the bankrupcy] recovery process nobody would lend to risky
borrowers.  Essentially, lenders accept less than shareholders ([which]
means bonds return less than stocks) in good times only because they get
more than shareholders in bad times."

Asness is managing and founding partner at AQR Capital Management, a notable
financial firm. He is also a Trustee of The Atlas Society.

Asness's letter was liberally quoted in the May 11, 2009 *Wall Street
Journal*, in a piece entitled "Hedge Funds Are Piqued by White House."
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102577628099&s=14360&e=0010u2ysWkumoBFqVVeeuxpVLrplnyXYDUdtkGl98mdQ6ePDwKAOLos9qZzDlhGveGaK_zJsqWjXuw4IipvJYAQVkAfTUmnAI-Xy7T56CxMbRrHKSkpIu4ijzahje6DbKPZmwLWmlpnopNbcBNdTWgsjXWaxtlXrHhC>On
the CBS News website, writer Declan McCullagh also discussed Asness's views
in his piece, "Chrysler Bankruptcy Exposes Dirty
Politics<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102577628099&s=14360&e=0010u2ysWkumoCEWYfgGZT-CQTthFMexmfg_ku9GuYjlBZJIBcXr5eynVoTAX_NZrsLbV1h03qg7yKQiwn9rH5NLREOjmCZGXHexGPQPO3xaJEmnucaM55TkbPk_CtqxEOp02eFJJH9IA_RMhWhL8OwimM6796mK47578qp0otC1NfjUj43mMrAXZXcsZXaR0McaUGxK_fr-kRMpqD6_2EqYHq_mjWW3odGXFuAhlljIuYOKkIDzP0rSw==>."
Further, Reuters highlighted Asness in its piece, "Hedge Fund Manager Lashes
Back at Obama on
Chrysler<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102577628099&s=14360&e=0010u2ysWkumoChdui9z__pTVwsYOENzM2OhtqCJKzsrBNYpcr60odhDmI1DZFg2S6-LAZ8lvd6poiw51d1KGi5f4_VPbmrOG9XXuck5kxavteS1O5KBIVgcFO_3QDsQ_VajluDfl3lOTq7F21x0rjzxzWQzDLUdEt2NsP2X0Zt3dY=>
."

It's a disgrace that most media have been unwilling to talk about how
Stephen Rattner, Timothy Geithner, and President Obama are strong-arming the
financial sector and riding roughshod over what little remains of property
rights in America. We at TAS are proud of Asness's efforts to shed the light
of truth and moral indignation on the power grab that the administration is
engaged in.


The Atlas Society: The Center for Objectivism
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